During his research, market check reporter Julian Gräfe came across seemingly good offers from investment brokers.
Fixed-term deposits at Amsaville, Van Tilburg, Consultancy, Worldwide Savings – Serious or Fraud?
A Belgian company called AMSAVILLE Management is offering 4.25 percent with a 12-month term for 20,000 euros for an investment with the Spanish Caixa Bank. The provider Worldwide Savings promises 4.34 percent with the Dutch Rabobank, term 24 months. Consumer advocates have been warning about dubious fixed-term deposit account brokers for months. Financial expert Niels Nauhauser knows: The fraudulent offers are difficult to recognize. “The Internet is now full of warnings about investment interest rates that are too high and promises of returns that are too high. “That doesn’t work anymore,” says Nauhauser.
The fraudsters no longer promise 8% returns, but only 3.5%. We show him the fixed-term deposit offer that our reporter Julian received. The first thing the consumer advocate notices is the name. Weltweitsparen sounds very similar to the reputable provider Weltsparen. Our reporter comes into contact with a person who lost a lot of money with this exact provider. She wants to remain unrecognized. She shows us documents showing that she transferred 15,000 euros to a Rabo Bank account in the Netherlands. She entered her own name as the recipient. She fell for the IBAN trick.
“The Internet is now full of warnings about investment interest rates that are too high and promises of returns that are too high. “It doesn’t work anymore.”
Niels Nauhauser, financial expert
Recipients are not matched for transfers
The scam works like this. The fraudsters open an account at a normal, reputable bank - supposedly in the victim's name. In reality, the perpetrators have the account. The victim transfers the money to the account in good faith. Shortly afterwards, the fraudsters empty it. Niels Nauhauser: “The fraudsters specifically exploit a gap in the system. Namely that the name and account holder are not matched. So you can enter the Mafia or Mickey Mouse as the account holder. Nobody checks that. The only thing that is checked is the IBAN.”
“The fraudsters are specifically exploiting a gap in the system.”
Niels Nauhauser, financial expert
Source:
Market check SWR , author: Julian Gräfe
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